ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners have been left "dejected and angry" over the state of the abandoned Oasis Leisure Centre site.
Rubbish from overflowing bins is strewn around the grounds around the iconic North Star facility and there are concerns over the removal of a number of trees.
The Oasis has been shut for 16 months, with landlord SevenCapital and Swindon Borough Council now in talks to resolve its future.
Plastic Free Swindon has regularly tidied up the area in the past on a voluntary basis - a job it has stressed should be done by SevenCapital, which was granted a 99-year lease by the local authority.
But, despite raising the issue of fly-tipping and building rubbish several times, the organisation has once again discovered the site, especially the car park, to be in an 'appalling' state.
A spokesperson from Plastic Free Swindon said: "I visited the Oasis grounds a couple of days ago. I left the site dejected and angry.
"The litter and flytipping around the site is appalling. Clearly many people in Swindon have little respect for other people, wildlife, and the environment. Plastic Free Swindon will continue to work to change this."
Trees and bushes have been removed rather than simply cut them back.
The spokesperson continued: "Trees and other greenery have been hacked down. That's cheaper than employing people to maintain the site but at what cost?
"Our health is dependent on the health of the environment. We are in the midst of ecological crisis and need to nurture green spaces not destroy them.
"Were the environmental impacts of this work even considered? Saving money/profit, it seems, are more important than health and well-being. The economic system is not serving our basic needs."
Finally, Plastic Free Swindon are wondering how this is being allowed to keep happening.
It added: "Again local people and groups have had to step in to deal with the dire situation at the Oasis in the absence of appropriate action from the borough council and Seven Capital.
"Why have the Borough Council allowed Seven Capital to consistently contravene the terms of their lease without penalty? If a council housing tenant had done the same, they would have been evicted. Why the lack of parity?"
The Save Oasis Swindon group has also spoken of its shock at the current state of the site.
SevenCapital has been approached for comment.
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